Sir Robert James Buckland (born 22 September 1968) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Wales from July to October 2022. He previously served as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for South Swindon since 2010. Buckland was Solicitor General for England and Wales from 2014 to 2019 and Minister of State for Prisons from May to July 2019. He was appointed Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor by Boris Johnson in July 2019, serving until the cabinet reshuffle in September 2021. In July 2022, following the mass resignation of ministers from the government, he was appointed Secretary of State for Wales by Johnson, and continued to serve in the position under Liz Truss; he resigned from the role when new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took office in October 2022. Early life and career Buckland was born on 22 September 1968 in Llanelli, Wales. He was educated at Old Road County Primary School () and then at St Michael's School, Llanelli (). He studied at Hatfield College, University of Durham, where he became Secretary of the Junior Common Room and President of the Durham Union Society in Michaelmas term 1989. He graduated in Law in 1990, and the following year was called to the bar at the Inner Temple. Buckland practised as a barrister in Wales from 1992 to 2010, specialising in criminal law in the Crown Court at Swansea, Cardiff, Merthyr and Newport. He was appointed as a recorder in 2009, sitting as a part-time judge in the Crown Court. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2014 on becoming Solicitor General and was elected as a Master of the Bench of Inner Temple. Entry into politics Buckland stood as the Conservative Party candidate for Elli ward on Dyfed County Council in May 1993, winning the seat from Labour with a majority of just 3 votes. It was reported that he was the first Conservative "in living memory" to have been elected in the Llanelli area. Following local government reorganisation, the Elli Ward became part of the unitary Carmarthenshire County Council and Buckland stood again in 1995 where he lost to the Labour candidate by over 200 votes. In 1994, Buckland stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative Party candidate for the safe Labour European Parliament seat